Creative Active Lives uses Minecraft to boost student wellbeing with new WCIT education grant

Birmingham-based Creative Active Lives CIC has received a WCIT Charity grant to build MindQuest, a Minecraft Education world helping students explore and improve mental health and wellbeing.

Creative Active Lives, a Birmingham-based social enterprise providing inclusive activities for schools and community groups across the United Kingdom, has announced funding from the WCIT Charity to develop MindQuest, a Minecraft Education world supporting neurodivergent and traumatized children.

The update was shared by Director Rachel Conlisk in a recent LinkedIn post.

The project integrates wellbeing questionnaires such as the Stirling Children’s Wellbeing Scale and WEBWMS directly into the Minecraft environment. Responses are encrypted and stored securely in the cloud, giving educators and organizations a low-stress way to monitor progress while students play and explore.

Prototype emerged from West Midlands sessions

Conlisk said the concept originated in the West Midlands after receiving a Sandwell Council of Voluntary Organisations Vision 2030 Fund grant to deliver Minecraft Education sessions for children unable to attend school. “I knew that traditional questionnaires, on paper or screens, would be a barrier,” she wrote. “I knew the children would arrive full of excitement and desperate to get on the computers to play. Asking them to stop and fill in a form would cause stress, a point of demand, and wouldn’t give reliable results—super quick box ticking to get it over with!”

She and her daughter developed a working prototype that allowed students to complete wellbeing surveys within Minecraft itself. The response, Conlisk said, showed that the method was both effective and engaging.

Collaboration expands classroom reach

The MindQuest project is being developed with Minecraft education consultant Dan Noble, who designs custom interactive worlds for educators, and Ellie Finch, founder of PlayMode Academy.

Conlisk added, “I’m even prouder that my daughter is co-developing it. At 17, studying computer science, she saw a problem and built a solution. She didn’t know it was meant to be impossible—so she went ahead and made it. Now she has the chance to build something that could help so many others.”

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